Marilyn Alger's Page

So sorry I didn't get back to you last year, and I'm guessing you may be through (or mostly through) the program at SVSTM now. I did like the school and the teachers, but I expect there's been a bit of turnover, so I don't know if we had more than one teacher in common. When I went the class size happened to be super-small, three students including me. The next class was 12. Holli was one of my classmates, don't know if you had her as a teacher. Really thought my education was rigorous, but have also (since) wished it covered a few more things than it did, like more on the business side of massage, and more on the realities of being a therapist in different scenarios. Things were already changing when I got out of school. I was told in school that we could expect a take of 60% when working for someone and it's the opposite (or worse) in most cases I've encountered in the greater DC area ... so it pays to be in business for yourself if you can swing it. Also, since graduating over 5 years ago, I've had a few massages from people who went to SVSTM and have been generally unimpressed (but perhaps I'm hard to please); so it goes to show that education is only part of the picture, there's also innate sense of touch, a certain type of attention to client need, continuing self-education and improved understanding and growth in the field AS WELL AS retaining important elements and concepts from the protocols. Some of the things I've learned from studying Orthopedic Massage have completely changed my approach in certain ways, causing me to discard some of the methods I was taught in school. Such is growth, I would expect this to be true of pretty much any school after time has passed. Good luck to you and I hope you like SVSTM!

Welcome, Marilyn! Please let me know if I can provide any help!

Hi Marilyn,
So glad you are here! Holler if you need help!

Welcome Marilyn